On Thursday, Erik ten Hag dismissed Cristiano Ronaldo’s criticism of his ambition at struggling Manchester United, saying the Portugal star is “far from Manchester”. Ronaldo left United in November 2022 after making scathing comments about his Dutch manager. The 39-year-old Al-Nassr player again criticized Ten Hag this week, stating his attitude was too negative for United.
Ten Hag addresses Ronaldo’s criticism of Man Utd’s desire
The Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast said Ronaldo: “Manchester United coach, you cannot claim you won’t fight for the Premier League or Champions League. “You must psychologically say, ‘Listen, maybe we don’t have that capacity, but I cannot admit that. We’ll try. You must try.” He added that the club must “rebuild everything” and that winning major trophies “will be difficult”.
Ronaldo played with Ferdinand from 2003 to 2009, his trophy-laden first tenure at United. After winning the League Cup and FA Cup in the past two seasons, Ten Hag feels “quite confident” of winning more this season. In July, he acknowledged his squad is a “long way away” from winning the Premier League, which United hasn’t won since Alex Ferguson’s final season in 2013. Ten Hag responded to Ronaldo’s attitude comments at a Thursday press conference: “he declared Manchester United can’t win the Premier League. He said this if you read the paper carefully.
“So he’s in Saudi, distant from Manchester. Everyone can have an opinion. No problem.” Ronaldo spoke following an international break after United’s 3-0 home loss to bitter rivals Liverpool. Ten Hag said it didn’t effect him. “It doesn’t affect me,” he said. “In the process, I know where we are, what we must do, and where we go. “I’ve indicated we’re in transition. Many young players must be added to the team.
We must return injured players to the team. No excuses—we must win every game. I and the team know this, therefore it doesn’t matter who’s available. We will focus on every game and think we must win.” United defeated Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May but finished ninth in the Premier League last season, their worst.
On Saturday, the 20-time English champions will play Southampton after losing two of their first three league matches. Luke Shaw and Rasmus Hojlund are out, but new signing Manuel Ugarte may debut after playing for Uruguay midweek.
